In the Line of Fire
by Darth Kieduss the Wise
Summary: Tony and Gibbs have saved Kate's life. But their destinies can change just as quickly as the love in one's heart can fade. Nothing is set in stone. Based on 9x14 "Life Before His Eyes". (Redo)
1. Life Before Your Eyes

"Shooter!" Kate yelled, dropping her shotgun and running towards Gibbs. She threw herself in front of him and took two bullets to the chest. She slammed to the ground hard, laying on her side. Gibbs and Tony turned as a man started shooting at them. The agents shot the man dead, who did some rolling as he hit the ground.

"Kate?" Gibbs said as he and Tony ran over towards her.

Tony holstered his weapon as he turned Kate over. He unzipped her jacket and Gibbs pulled the jacket apart, revealing two bullets wedged into her bullet proof vest.

"You okay?" Tony asked.

"Ow!" she groaned. "I just got shot at point-blank range, DiNozzo. What do you think?"

"You're not gonna be going to Pilates class tomorrow?" Tony said with a smirk as Kate groaned again. "And that wasn't point-blank range."

"McGee, get air support," Gibbs said. "We got a sniper."

"Okay."

Tony looked up, noticing a flash of light shining against glass and metal from a building not far from them. It was him. That little bastard.

"Stay down, Kate," Tony told her, holding her down. Kate sighed in frustration.

NOT FAR AWAY

Meters away, Ari pulled the trigger. The only sound he heard was a click. His rifle had jammed. He tried to clear the jam in his rifle. The jam didn't clear until he heard a loud droning noise. He looked up to see a white helicopter coming at him. He could see two SWAT men armed with a M4A1 assault rifle and the other armed with a Remington 700 sniper rifle.

Sighing, he folded up his rifle. He knew he couldn't get her today. "Another time, Caitlin. We'll meet again."

ROOFTOP

"Is it safe?" Kate said. "Should we go get him?"

"Stay down, stay down," Gibbs said. He pushed her back down when she tried to get up. "No, damn it. Stay down. Stay still. Nobody move."

 _Oh, God, oh God, oh God, help us,_ she prayed.

"He can't get a bead on us," Tony said. "Stay down."

"Should we go now?" Kate said after a few seconds.

"No, no, no, no. Damn it, Kate," Tony told her. "He can't get us. Stay down. Stay still. Don't move."

Few seconds seemed like hours as they maintained a low profile. The only sound they could hear was their heavy breathing and the drone of the helicopter. Kate looked to Tony, Gibbs, and God for deliverance.

"Oh, God," Kate whispered, drowned out by the helicopter. God, help us. I'm not ready to die.

Tony looked at Gibbs, motioning his head at the edge. Gibbs nodded. Tony rose his head just enough for him to spot Ari, who was moving.

"Yep, I see him. He's running," Tony said after a few seconds. "I think he's going home."

"Maybe," Gibbs agreed. "But he'll be back. He won't stop until he completes his mission."

"Let's get out of here before he comes back," Tony said.

"For once, Tony, I agree with you," Kate said. "Now help me up!"

 **Review. Thanks for coming back if the you read the previous version of this story. Thank you for your patience. Call it a Miracle.**

 **REST IN PEACE JOHN F. KENNEDY**


	2. Butterfly

It was nightfall by the time the bodies of the terrorists had been taken away, shell casings swept up, evidence collected, terrorist weapons confiscated and the search for Ari had been called off. The little bastard had slipped away, waiting to strike again. But NCIS would get him. They always got their man. By 10 pm, the team were exhausted and heading back.

On the way back to NCIS, something didn't sit right with Tony. Something in his gut told him something was wrong. Normally it was Gibbs with the gut feeling, but the Desert Storm veteran was silent the entire ride. He looked to his left. Kate was asleep. Tough ol' woman despite being shot twice at close range. Tony smiled, yet that feeling persisted. Something in his heart told him that something had changed. Something drastic. He could _feel_ it.

Something had changed. What was it? The past? The future? The present? Tony knew the butterfly effect would come into play.

The butterfly effect. A tiny butterfly flapping its wings today may lead to a devastating hurricane weeks from now. Even the smallest decision can dramatically change the future. One's actions would shape how the story unfolds. Your story was one of many possibilities. One had to choose carefully.

Tony couldn't help but feel that something bad was supposed to happen today. Not just the thwarted terrorist attack. Someone was supposed to die that day. Someone of NCIS. Was it Gibbs? Himself? McGee? Or Kate... Someone was supposed to die that day. But no one Tony knew died.

Tony would give his life for his friends. He looked again to Kate. She looked majestic in her slumber. Was she the one who, if not for a change of events, would be in an eternal slumber? His gut told him it was either himself or her. But Tony made a pledge to himself. He would not let anything happen to his team...His family. Especially not Kate. Their destinies could change just as quickly as the anger in one's heart can fade. Nothing is set in stone.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Kate said, eyes still closed.

"That noticeable, right?" Tony smirked.

"Tony, what's wrong?" she asked.

"That noticeable too?"

"Yeah. What's bothering you. Tell me."

"You're getting better at reading men, Kate," Tony sighed. He debated with himself whether he should tell her. Would it matter if he did?

"Something tells me that something was supposed to happen today," he finally said after a moment. "And I got a feeling that it wasn't good."

"You mean one of us was supposed to die?" Kate asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know," Tony honestly admitted. "But something has changed. I can feel it."

"Hmmm," Kate pondered. "Do you believe in fate?"

"Kate, all I know is our destinies can change just as quickly as the anger in one's heart can fade," he told her as they pulled up into NCIS. " _Nothing_ is set in stone."

* * *

In Washington DC, two slabs of 246 feet long gabbo walls turned into a small plaque. The tens of thousands of names on the memorial were reduced to a few hundred.

Over in the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, a man stood above two graves, both of which sat in front of a flame. The surface of both graves became distorted for a brief moment. The years of life then read 1917-2001 and 1929-2005. The man noticed the change and did nothing.

The drift of time had now been diverted. A new timeline had been created and the timeline where a narcissist became president would disappear. The fabric of time had been bent, distorted beyond its normal shape. But hopefully, this would be for the better. In American media, when a person went back in time and changed the past, it would at first appear to be for the better but eventually it would make the world worse and the character(s) would have to go back and reverse their actions. But this person was determined to not having to do so. And everything had seemed good so far.

But wouldn't there be a weird time-contimum ripple effect? Probably not. There was an infinite alternate dimensions to the one we're in now. So this man's actions back in 1963 might have just fractured the dimension, splintering it into two separate lines, one where John F. Kennedy was murdered, and the other where he lived with simply a shoulder wound. All that would happen is all the mortal humans' consciousness would be aware of the alternate path rather than the original timeline.

"Castiel, it's time to come home," a voice said from up high.

"I'm coming, Michael."

 **Review. BTW, I am neither Sith nor Jedi. I am much more.**

 **I will try to post chapters by the weekends. I got work up the ass so it might take a while.**


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